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Homily

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Nm. 21:4b-9; Phil. 2:6-11; Jn. 3:13-17

We know from Jesus himself in the gospel the correlation between the serpent in the desert of the first reading and Jesus being lifted up for salvation.  The serpent being the source of death goes back to Adam and Eve’s temptation by the serpent.  The punishment of the serpent is to drag itself on earth.  The serpent lifted up on a pole becomes the source of salvation from the Lord when he directs Moses to create this image and have the people look at it.  At first to place a serpent, the image of evil in the same mold as Jesus seems contrary to faith.  The serpent is the source of sin and Jesus the source of salvation.  The first step of conversion is to face our sin.  The serpent represents their sins and if we desire salvation we must face the truth about our sin.  Jesus takes the form of our sins that we may gaze upon salvation.

This however is a “seraph” serpent which is the singular form of Seraphim, the highest rank of angels in heaven.  “Seraph” means “the burning one”.  Imagine burning snakes from heaven bringing the poison of death for the sin of the people. 

In Isiah 6: 2-7 the Seraphim were stationed and one cried out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of host!  At the sound of the cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke.  Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed!  For I am a man of unclean lips…Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar.  He touched my mouth with it.  “See,” he said, “now that this has touched your lips your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.” 

Jesus takes the form of the sinful slave to purge the sin of the world exalted on the pole in the form of a cross.  Jesus brings the fire of salvation.  The cross should be at the door of our homes to shake the serpents of sin from entering our home. 

Salvation comes through Jesus “obedience to death, even death on a cross” It does not say that salvation comes without fire to purge us of our sins.  Early Christians experienced the great fire of martyrdom for their obedience to their faith.  Then there is the fire of being purged of our sins for what comes out of our mouth defiles and an ember of truth comes to purify us.  What about the fire of justice when we “do not forget the works of the Lord” and seek holy lives.  That too is a fire of obedience and humility to carry the cross and empty ourselves for the Lord. 

Jesus sends us the fire of the Holy Spirit to sustain us in our purity of faith.  He did not come to condemn the world but the world must remain faithful to the covenant.  The exaltation of the cross is the fire still burning for our sins.  The exaltation of the cross is mercy incarnate waiting to be loved.  The exaltation of the cross is a memorial of the cry for conversion of souls.  The works of the Lord is to bring others to the cross.  The cross is redemptive suffering if we accept it as our gift and fear not.  Mary remains at the side of Jesus on the cross so she too is our Mother of Sorrows calling us from her tender heart to repent and undergo the sacrifice of our lives for our salvation and the salvation of the world. 

The Church is under crisis and the Seraphim angels are bringing the fire to purge it from the serpent’s death.  Note that Jesus response to the cry of the suffering did not remove the poisonous serpents.  The serpents of sin remain in the world.  People continue to die from their sin, spiritually and mortally.  Our vision on the exaltation of the cross is victory over death.  We shall not die into the eternal fire of death but be raised with Christ in the Exaltation of the cross.  Jesus empties himself in the form of a slave.  Is he simply a slave to the human condition?  He is a slave to obedience, to truth, to his divine purpose.  May we follow our call to obedience and truth wherever it may lead us.  Guard ourselves against sin, we are his works called to holiness for a divine purpose.  “Do not forget the works of the Lord” and let it begin with me. 

 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 35: 4-7a; Jas. 2: 1-5; Mk. 7: 31-37

Ephphatha!  “Be opened”.  Isaiah’s prophesy in the first reading, “Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you” is fulfilled in Jesus.  The healing of the deaf mute is one of many miracles performed by Jesus.  Keep in mind to a deaf mute you cannot explain things so he alone with Jesus must be open to trust Jesus even if his heart is frightened he accepts what Jesus is doing to him.   The crowd responds with “He has done all things well.”  Scholars believe that while he was in a region with primarily Gentiles there were also Jews who knew the scriptures and recognized by this statement an awareness of the connection to Isaiah and the coming era of salvation.  The miracle is a sign of the dawning of the messiah and this could be the One.

Historically, St. James letter comes after the gospel life of Jesus so we move forward from the coming of the messiah to the beginning of the early church.  The early church was what we would refer to as an unsegregated group of Jews, Gentiles, rich and poor.  The communities they were coming from however were very segregated in that Jews and Gentiles kept apart so the early church was faced not only with a concern for integration of two cultures but also the rich, poor, and slaves as one body in Christ to be truly Christian.  Sociologist might say a social experiment in integration for the purpose of salvation with divine intervention.

The Jesus prayer to the Father for his disciples before his arrest is “Father keep them in your name…so that they may be one just as we are” (Jn. 17: 11).  How united is our world, our country, our Church?  The world never ceases in war, a country founded as “one nation under God” is battling to take God out of the nation, and a Church founded by Christ is in crisis failing to guard against the sin from within.  Desegregation has come through changes in law not changes in hearts.  Jesus prays for solidarity, that we may all be one.

St. James addresses in part one of these concerns with the human tendency to give deference to the wealthy and allow them to become “judges” over other Christians of less stature.  He reminds them and all of us not to make these distinctions.  We are all sinners in need of salvation.

The church addresses this concern in the call for solidarity: “solidarity of the poor among themselves, between rich and poor, of workers among themselves, between employers and employees in a business, solidarity among nations and peoples” (CCC 1941).

Solidarity among the poor themselves reminds me growing up in poor neighborhoods from the barrios of Houston to the colonias of the Rio Grande Valley.  When we ran out of food such as eggs, potatoes, lard the kids were sent to the neighbor to ask if they could spare a little.  It was repaid with the same kind offering when someone came knocking on your door.  The man in the fruit truck would stop to sell his produce at the house and he always offered to keep a tab until payday.  The poor look after each other.  I remember the first time living in a middle class neighborhood around eight years old and nobody ever talked to their neighbors, everybody stayed indoors or in wood fenced backyards.

Solidarity between the rich and poor meant the landlord accepted partial payment for rent until payday and you could always buy on layaway without paying interest.  The rich farmer provided shelter for the migrant workers and if necessary gave an advance to help in times of unforeseen circumstances.  Now the poor turn to pawn shops and loan sharks in every poor neighborhood not to mention high interest rate credit cards.

Solidarity among workers themselves meant you learned from your peers as mentors to master a trade.  The more skilled worker was the “Maestro” who may not necessarily be the “Jefe” boss man.  It was the on the job school passing down a trade.  Now we go to trade schools and often start in debt, get a license, and insurance before we earn a buck to pay it all back.

Solidarity between employers and employees means earning a living wage.  The vision of the “American Dream” has changed over generations from opportunity to choice.  Originally it was work that provided an opportunity to have a career, raise a family, own a home and serve your duty for pleasure.  Over generations it has evolved to freedom of choice, upward mobility, doing better than your parents, and experiential “good life”, we all like the good life.  However we define the American Dream success requires solidarity between the worker and the business community.

Finally, solidarity is needed between nations and peoples.  For this we must give some credit to the Millennials generation, also called Gen Y.  Gen Y defines the American Dream as “Living in an open society in which everyone has equal chance.”  Their vision is family-centric with global peers.  You can take an on-line course, buy merchandise, do business, and skype with family from anywhere in the world feeling connected, present, and responsible to others world-wide with a greater vision for world peace.

This is not saying the “Dream” is a return to the “good old days”.  There is good, evil, and struggle in every generation from Adam and Eve on, just read the Bible.  Only God is good all the time.  We are a work in progress.  The poor are as resourceful as the rich and the poor can be as wasteful as the rich.  Solidarity is a shared responsibility for the resources God gives us to be blessed and be multiplied.

Wealth is a blessing but it can also lead to “evil designs” in the heart.  As we were reminded in last Sunday’s gospel, “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.”  We lose the purity of heart to be servants of the Lord.  Of the twelve Disciples who would have been the wealthiest?  Mathew was a Jew and a tax collector who by profession was known for their oppression of the poor in their collections.  God chose “those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith” not for their material poverty but for their humility and dependent faith on God.

In baptism is the “Ephphetha” prayer over the ears and mouth with these words, “The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak.  May he soon touch your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father.”  We have been given a spiritual treasure from our baptism and we are to be in solidarity between the Church Militant on earth, the Church Penitent in purgatory, and the Church Triumphant in heaven.  We are warriors for Christ and our solidarity is with our Blessed Mother, the Angels, and Saints in the call to holiness.  Be opened to the work of the Holy Spirit that we may do all things well for the glory of God with us, in us, and through us that we may all be one.

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Homily

Friday, Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

1 Cor. 4: 1-5; Lk. 5: 33-39

1 Cor. 4: 1-5; Lk. 5: 33-39

The gospel today reminds us of Jesus’ proclamation, “I have come to make all things new.”  The reading however brings to light our human struggle in accepting the new with the words, “The old is good.”  We have a tendency to not like change.  Change can be disruptive, it produces uncertainties.  In the old there is familiarity, even if we know it has problems we are familiar and have adapted to those problems.  We judge “the old is good” enough why change.

When a new priest is assigned to a parish the first concern is what will he change, “the old is good we are happy with status quo”.  The change comes and the complaints start.  Just when the new becomes old a change of priest is made and we start over again.  The responsorial reminds us, “commit in the Lord your way; trust in him, and he will act”.  If we trust in him then we withhold judgment.  If we trust in him we become what is new to mold us and fashion us in the potters hands.  If you take putty the more you mold it in your hands the softer it becomes.  If you let it sit for a long time it becomes hard, dry, and brittle.  God needs servants who he can mold to serve the diversity of people in the world.  The message of salvation is the same.   How we come to the realization and revelation of the message is by being molded in Jesus’ hands as servants for the new evangelization.  We have many opportunities to evangelize from birth to death such as in baptisms, weddings, funerals, visiting the sick, feeding the poor, and raising a holy family.  The gifts to serve and evangelize are from God when we surrender into his hands. 

St. Paul however reminds us in the first reading of the obvious for the church to function as one body.   “Now it is of course required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.”  Today all are speaking of the crisis in the church which at the heart of the crisis is a breach of trust.  The community receives a new priest into the church to be a pastor.  The priesthood is a call from God bestowed by the church.  Being a pastor comes from the relationship between the priest and the people.  It is a relationship not based on blind faith but found trustworthy as “stewards of the mysteries of God” by the good works.  Faith and works make for true discipleship, builds trust, and builds God’s kingdom on a strong foundation. 

Sadly and tragically we have had wolves in sheep’s clothing using the cover of the church violating the trust of the people.  That in itself is a crime and a tragedy.  The mishandling of the crime by the church is double jeopardy.  The culture of our times trusts transparency not secrecy.  Secrecy created a shadow of doubt and division.  St. Paul reminds us, “do not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes, he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts.”  The Lords has come bringing to light what was hidden and the time for penance, reparation, healing, and renewal is upon us.  “He will make justice dawn for you like the light; bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.”  For the victims the Lord, “is their refuge in times of distress…he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.”  Today we pray for deliverance and renewal within the church, “For the Lord loves what is right, and forsakes not his faithful ones.  Deliverance and renewal will come but first there must be purification.  Purification will be painful for it includes accountability and change.  “Change” that word again to which there is resistance.  We must all contribute as change agents through penance, prayer and trust in the Lord for he is faithful.  The Lord will not abandon his bride the Church.  In silence we pray and in justice we speak for change to be God’s will, “he will act”. 

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Homily

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Dt. 4: 1-2, 6-8; Ps. 15; Jas 1: 17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mk 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

“From within…they defile”.  Today’s call is for purity of heart, of body, and of faith.  Perhaps we can say that we have come a long way in wisdom and intelligence.  We understand our humanity more from a psychological and behavioral approach or have we?  What about from a spiritual awareness?   From an applied perspective everyone starts from ground zero to learn the lesson for themselves.  What is the lesson?  It is the lesson of how obedience, chastity, truth, faith, and love are living the good life.  We all like the good life but we do not always see the good God in his creation.  In fact some tend to focus on the “cup half empty”.  The Catechism of the Church summarizes it well:

“The faithful must believe the articles of the Creed so that by believing they may obey God, by obeying may live well, by living well may purify their hearts, and with pure hearts may understand what they believe.” (CCC 2518)

Our first reading is the call to obedience.  As a parent would say to a child, “Do it” and you will come to understand the good that comes from it.  The child’s natural inclination is to believe only what it sees with a limited understanding but God who sees the end result takes the behavioral approach in its commands.  Do it, then you will see the goodness of the Lord.  Do it then you will discover a greater truth that you can only see by following these “statutes and decrees”.  Behaviorist would say trust the process, don’t wait to understand or feel ready to change from within.  Change the behavior and you will accomplish the change from within you seek.

In the same way, God the Father is saying observe the commandments “carefully” and you will be wise and it will purify your heart.  He is also saying don’t add nor subtract from them, follow my plan.  Here is where we struggle.  We want to change the plan to meet our comfort zone.  The Doctor says, “Take this pill for 14 days” and we start to feel better in 7 so we stop taking it without understanding the consequence of not allowing the full benefit to take effect or we start skipping days or taking only half.  Do we know the physiological and pharmacological relationship between the medication and our body?  No, but we take away or we add sometimes when we like the benefits like pain pills that become abused.  The Old Testament says, “Follow God’s plan”.  We tell our children “eat your breakfast”.  The response, “I’m not hungry”.  God says, “Eat my word”.  We say, “I’m too busy.”  Then we become malnourished spiritually.

Jesus comes into the world speaking truth to the mind and love to the heart.  This is a huge paradigm shift in God’s revelation to humanity.  He does not take away from the obedience of the commands but enriches the understanding of the commands through the gifts of the spirit.  Jesus tells the Pharisees that they have created their own “human tradition” the laws on top of the law of God and failed to live God’s law in spirit and in truth.  We run the same risk if we use Canon Law, the “Big Book of Rules” in judgment and not in mercy to serve God’s commands.

What is this human tradition?  In our times we have different customs from region to region and across the continent such as the selection of music, when we kneel and how long we kneel, or whether people hold hands or not or liturgical dance in some countries.  Many of these customs develop regionally and the church allow for adaptations to integrate itself into the culture without compromising the essential rites of the General Instructions of the Roman Missal (GIRM).   The human tradition is to battle over the little “t” observations and lose sight of the big “T” purpose of the gospel.

Perhaps the question we must ask ourselves is “Does this fulfill the gospel proclamation of salvation?”  What is “this”?  “This” is our hearts, this is our actions, this is our rules, and this is our voice.  It is what comes out of our mouth that defiles not what comes into it unless it becomes the poison of alcohol, drugs, or if we become consumed with pornography, certain video gaming, and even ideologies the world creates separating us from God.

Through obedience to the commands in our external behavior and purity of hearts in our internal beliefs of faith we will act in justice and live in the presence of the Lord.  We often say, “God is love and God is mercy” but we don’t say enough of “God is righteous”.  Love, mercy, goodness and holiness are feel good attributes of God however “Righteousness” is also an attribute that calls for justice and justice means obedience to God’s law.  Injustice comes from within.   Seeds of anger lead to evil thoughts and acts of revenge; lustful thoughts to unchastity as sexuality begins in the mind; selfish desires to theft remember that candy bar you grabbed as a child at the store; rejection in the heart to murder, once you objectify a person it becomes easy to kill them in your heart and actions; sexual drives to adultery blaming “hormones made me do it”; greed to lack of charity and loss of generosity the source of love; jealousy to malice with emotional hijacking causing acts of violence; deceit to manipulation, once you buy the lie yourself lying to others comes easy; licentiousness to immorality, the license to sin with euthanasia and killing the unborn; envy to covetousness, worshiping the material god; contempt to blasphemy, using the name of Jesus to cuss or “G-O-D-damn” as if God has anything to do with our anger; arrogance to overbearing, otherwise called “full of it”;  and imprudence to folly without the guidance of the spirit poor judgment results.  In summary, impurity leads to injustice and apart from the Lord.

Religion that is pure and undefiled is two parts, the giving of self to others and the guarding of self from the sins of others.  The world is very creative in coming up with new ways to defile the mind under the cover of “entertainment”.   The serpents promise has not changed to “be like gods”.  What enters the mind defiles the heart and it manipulates the will to sin.  Jesus came with the gift of the Spirit to wash us clean.  We are called to be servants, servants to God who chose the cross and remained undefiled.  Let us pray to our Blessed Mother in our weakness recognizing the strength of her love to endure suffering at the side of Jesus.  Let us be ready to answer the call.  We are all called to be saints.  Jesus is the way.

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Homily

Friday, 21st Week in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Friday 2st Friday of Ordinary time 2018

1 Cor. 1: 17-25; Ps 33; Mt. 25: 1-13

Where is the debater of this age?  St. Paul is challenging us with this question.  The debater here is not someone who gets in your face and challenges you like we see in some of the media debates where people talk over each other and only get louder to drown out the other.  The debater is an “apologist”, someone generally who can speak out in defense of their beliefs.  In Christianity it is someone who can speak out in defense of the truths of the Faith. 

St. Paul reminds us that being an apologist, defending the truths of Faith does not come from the “wisdom of human eloquence” but from the message of the cross.  This reminds me of the joke where two people come out of the church with one saying “he preached so eloquently” and the other responding, “yes, but what did he say?”  The message of the cross speaks for itself and directly to the soul if we can be silent and listen to its meaning in our lives in the moment. 

The message of the cross is always relevant to our present life.  It is a stumbling block to the sinner who seeks justification for their sin.  It is foolishness for the proud who desires glory.  What the secular world sees as foolishness Jesus used to proclaim salvation for those who have faith.   When we speak of the cross it is Jesus on the cross, the crucifix.  Mother Angelica from EWTN once stated the cross without Jesus is just a piece of wood.  Protestants will question in their apologetics why Catholics keep Jesus on the cross knowing he is risen.  What apology would you give?  Would it be an apology of excuse such as it is just a church tradition?  Would it be a strong apologetic understanding that we remain sinners who inflict pain on Jesus and are in need of greater conversion?  Those who argue against the crucifix say not only “he is risen” but he took our sins with him and “once saved always saved”. 

I remember attending a diaconal conference and the speaker was a convert to Catholicism.  When he was being mentored in the other faith he did a house visit to a new convert with the pastor.  The pastor asked the woman they were visiting that now since she had been “saved” if she committed murder would she be losing her salvation.   She thought about it for a moment and then responded “yes, I would”.  The pastor responded, “No, once saved always saved.”  The speaker said he left there agreeing with the woman more than the pastor.  This is just one example of where we may be called to respond to our faith and our response does not need eloquence of speech it needs understanding of Jesus on the cross. 

Jews demanded signs and Greeks looked for wisdom and today the world continues to seek signs and science based evidence but Christianity is an understanding coming from a personal relationship with a person outside of time who can be both on the cross, in the heart, on the altar and risen.  Signs and science come from a primer mover and creator of the signs and science as evidence of the unseen God of the heavens and earth “full of the goodness of the Lord…and all his works are trustworthy”. 

“But the plan of the Lord stands forever; the design of his heart, through all generations.”  We can choose to enter into the design of his heart or chose the foolishness our own design at our own peril.   To have strength to stand before Jesus who bears our sins on the cross we must be vigilant and choose wisely.  Then we will be wise and ready to meet the bridegroom and enter the wedding feast.  

 

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Homily

Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time B

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Wis. 1: 13-15; 2: 23-24; 2 Cor. 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mk 5:21-43

Live with the end in mind.  “God did not make death” thus to live by grace is not to die but to be transformed into the eternal life “for justice is undying”.   Death belongs to the darkness of the evil one and they will experience it.  What hope for the living!  But wait!  Will only the righteous experience immortality as a gift from God and the unrighteous cease to exist? In God’s image we are “imperishable” but then we must look at ourselves and see his image in us and in our actions.  What is that image?  We were given an intellect to put on the mind of God and receive knowledge, a will to follow God’s will for a purpose driven life, and the emotions to receive God’s love to fulfill “God’s justice”.  Live the image of God with the end in mind.

Often emotions are seen as inferior to the intellect, you must be “strong minded” over being “touchy feely” or have an “unbending will” over “sensitive nature”.  What about the emotional “EQ” to fulfill justice in the world?   Why would a stranger run out into the street to save a small child who has wandered off on the street when a car is coming that will kill the child.  Is that smart, or a weak will to risk his own life or is there a sense of love greater than self than seeks justice at the risk of their own poverty if they could also die or at least be severely injured.  The child has no chance against a car and is innocent of the danger but the adult recognizes the impending harm and is moved to act.   “Excel in every respect” with the end in mind.  Where do we want to spend eternity?

“Brothers and sisters: As you excel in every respect” along the spiritual gifts from grace excel in your poverty.   How do we excel in our poverty?  Our trust is in the Lord who made heaven and earth.  We trust in God’s divine providence for by Jesus’ poverty his coming into humanity we receive our riches prepared for us in heaven. In our poverty we recognize all that we have, all that we are is God’s and we share that in charity to supply the needs of others.  In his image we become the best God created us to be by our spiritual works of mercy and our corporal works of mercy.

Those who fail to think about where they will spend eternity will find the darkness of the “easy road” that is wide.  Historically kingdoms have risen and fallen but scripture reminds us that it was God who saw the sins of man and revealed the fall to come.  Those sins were driven by the kings and temple priests who ruled the people.  They included idolatrous priests, cult prostitutes living in the temple apartments, immolation of children sacrificed by fire in honor of other gods, and consultation with ghosts, and spirits.  Is the world different now than then?  The nations of the world are more secular and deny the existence of God to worship the State and fight for control of the government as their god.  The sexual revolution has taken prostitutes from the outskirts of town “red zone” and given them a place of honor, even the key to the city in one infamous recent “Stormy” case.   The sacrifice of children by fire to other gods has become the sacrifice of children by abortion to the god of self.  Consultations to spirits is still consultation of spirits, some things never change.  The darkness is in battle for spiritual control with palm readers, “curanderas”, spiritualist, etc.  It is time to turn to the Lord with our whole heart, whole being, and whole strength or suffer the same fate.

There are some who see Jesus coming as a coming “new world  order” of socialism and can point to a reading like today “Whoever had much did not have more, and whoever had little did not have less” as mantra for a redistribution of wealth.  I was watching in the news a debate between what is recognized as a “conservative and a liberal” and the liberal was quoting scripture to justify their position.  The conservative asked, if the liberal allowed the stranger into his home and had an open door policy to care for the poor.  His response was he was not the “state”.  Since when did Jesus say he came to establish a state run kingdom in the world?  To the contrary he said his kingdom was not of this world.  There can be no systemic justice without individual justice.  It cannot be forced upon a free will,  no more than we would want to becomes slaves to the state.  God’s kingdom must live in the individual soul and some will choose the darkness of envy but others will choose the sacrifice of love, the “undying justice” of eternal life.

The work of salvation Jesus performed in miracles was relational.  In the gospel Jesus cures the woman with hemorrhages and he raises the child to life.  In the woman we see the power of faith because as the Apostles claimed the crowd was pressing upon him but it was the touch of faith that drew power out of Jesus.  It was with the touch of the child’s hand that drew life back into her as he called out “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”  The child was dead in her humanity but asleep in her righteousness as a child of God for she did not belong to the evil one.  Jesus could have easily cured by the crowd full and saved himself much time but he chose to impact one life at a time.  The riches of his grace come when we reach out in faith and touch someone with love.  Today we will reach out and touch the heart of Jesus with our hands and/or our mouth but will we also touch him with our heart believing in faith in his presence.

The transubstantiation of the host into his body and blood is the daily miracle we receive today.  Eucharistic miracles when studied are always identified as flesh from a heart and AB type blood.  One recent Eucharistic miracle occurred on August 18, 1996 in the church of Santa Maria y Caballito Almagro in Buenos Aires Argentina under the auspices of Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, our Pope Francis.  (Mieczyslaw Piotrowski 2010 “Eucharistic Miracle in Buenos Aires in Love One Another “ A team of five  scientists were assembled and concluded:

“The analyzed material is a fragment of the heart muscle found in the wall of the left ventricle close to the valves.  This muscle is responsible for the contraction of the heart.  It should be borne in mind that the left cardiac ventricle pumps blood to all parts of the body.  The heart muscle is in an inflammatory condition and contains a large number of white blood cells.  This indicates that the heart was alive at the time the sample was taken.  It is my contention that the heart was alive, since white blood cells die outside a living organism.  They require a living organism to sustain them.  Thus, their presence indicates that the heart had been under severe stress, as if the owner had been beaten severely about the chest.

The scientists were not told that this human heart sample came from a host.  Let us reflect on this one statement, “The heart was alive at the time the sample was taken.”  It comes from a host.  This is an indication of the living presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.  This is also the tortured heart of Jesus that still bleeds for our sins and those of the whole world.  From the Sacred Heart of Jesus comes the blood and water to wash away our sins in his divine mercy.  Historical meaning of blood carried the life of animals and soul of humans.  Science reveals the heart pumps the blood which carries the impurities of the body to be cleansed by the organs which in Jesus is a sign of our sins being washed away.  Our riches rest in Jesus’ poverty, in the sacrifice of the Mass, and in the personal relationship for we are called by name.  Jesus is calling, the Blessed Mother gave her fiat, let us be a child today in the touch from Jesus and say yes Lord I believe.  Live with the end in mind with undying justice, heaven is waiting.

 

 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Eleventh Week Ordinary Time Wed 2018

Posted on by Deacon Joe

2 Kgs 2:1, 6-14; Mt 6: 1-6, 16-18

Having stood by the river Jordan during a pilgrimage, it is not a large or deep river but to Elijah and Elisha to both use the mantle of Elijah to strike the water and divide it to cross over on dry land is a miracle of God’s divine power and the spirit of God on these men.  Elisha calls Elijah “My Father” is a religious title accorded prophetic leaders and thus Elijah is the spiritual father of Elisha.  He is also about to be taken up to heaven in a “flaming chariot and flaming horses”.  As is the human tradition of those times giving the firstborn son a double portion of his fathers’ property as an inheritance, Elisha now asks for an a double portion of a spiritual inheritance.  Elijah seems surprised by the request, “that is not easy”.  “Still” Elijah places the request up to the test, “if you see me taken up from you, your wish will be granted; otherwise not”. 

As a parent our desire is to leave our children in a better position in life than we lived, ideally an inheritance of “double portion”.  We work hard, save, and invest for the future, a future for our children.  We write our wills and divide up our wealth and plan for the day we will be taken up to the Lord.  What is our spiritual inheritance for them, is it even a passing thought?  My parents were fairly illiterate with hardly a first grade education.  My mother was able to self-educate enough to read the bible.  Education was an important inheritance in my life in a time when many poor families valued children being part of the work force more than graduating or seeking higher education.  Education was not the only inheritance it was how I used my education young in life reading books of bible stories and as I grew older the bible.  It was an inheritance that valued church and prayer.  As early as I can remember I was expected to pray in the morning and before going to sleep.  Sometimes we prayed together often on my own but I recall getting on my knees next to my bed to pray. 

I remember one day my mother was ill and we were staying at the home of one of my aunts and on Sunday she said I needed to go to church so she told me to go find a church.  I was only 8 or 9 years old so I started walking down the streets until I saw a church.  I walked into this church I did not know what faith it was or anyone there.  I sat in the back and then someone escorted me to the back of the church into a separate room where there were other children.  We had bible study and then were brought back to the main assembly.  I walked back home at the end and shared my story with her.  Even though she had her disability she did not want me to be limited by her limitations even if I had to venture on my own very early in life.  These life experiences gave me my spiritual inheritance.  God was important and it has brought me to this altar as a deacon. 

The gospel is a reminder that the Christian idea of reward is not what the world has to offer but the gifts that come from God.  If we look to the world the rewards of the world will offer an “eye for an eye” and we will have been repaid but God offers us double or more of his gifts as our inheritance. 

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Homily

Wednesday 9th Week in Ordinary Time II 2018

Posted on by Deacon Joe

2 Tm 1: 1-3, 6-12; Mark 12: 18-27

Our first reading is about our calling from God the Father.  Paul is “in persona Cristi” as father to Timothy calling him “my dear child”.  That is the love of God the Father for us all.  Through the imposition of the hands it is about the call to the priesthood and for us now deacons also.  It is a gift of “power, and love and self-control…to a holy life not according to our works but according to his own design.”  God has designed a mission and purpose for each of us.  It is a gift, what gift?  The gift of salvation, “he saved us” through baptism we are saved from our sins with the power to overcome sin with love and self-control.

Salvation leads to service, “the calling”.  In baptism we all share and receive the calling as priest, prophet and king.  “A calling is something you live and are willing to die for.  That is the essence of the sacrament of marriage.  In marriage preparation a good question to ask a couple who claims they are ready to get married is, “So this is the person you’re willing to live and die for?”  That is the level of commitment in a covenant.  The bride of a priest is the church “entrusted to me” says Paul and by extension the priesthood “until that day”.  That day is the day of immortality approaching us and is already here for our loved ones who have passed from death to light immortal.

Paul is “appointed preacher and Apostle and teacher”.  We are appointed father, mother, teacher nurse, doctor, farmer, coach, business owner, administrator and more but also to preach by our witness of faith, apostles to evangelize beginning at home and to teach in raising our families in the faith.  At the end of Mass we say “Go forth” meaning go forth to fulfill your mission.  Mathew Kelly in his book Perfectly Yourself says “mission is a meeting between self and service”.  We receive the gift of grace to be formed in his image to respond to his call.  Paul reminds us it is not about us, “our works but according to his design.”  Fulfilling our mission has a place in the salvation of the world.  We have been called by name and today we have an opportunity to give our fiat as the Blessed mother surrenders complete faith and trust.  Let us also say, “yes Lord I have come to do your will, teach me, guide, and give me your grace to walk boldly in faith, hope and love.”

In the gospel, the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection.  One would think that is a good hope to have.  It appears they were more interested in their earthly inheritance and building up their earthly treasures.  In fact the Sadducees were part of the priestly class in power to rule over the people.  To believe in the resurrection meant to believe in judgment for their actions.  To deny the resurrection meant no eternal consequences.  Jesus however responds with the same scripture Book of Moses with the quote from God, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?  He is not God of the dead but of the living.”  This they cannot deny.  The God of the living has that day also marked a the day of judgment.

None of us have reached the resurrection so we only have a sense of this mystery from Jesus and scripture, “they are like the angels in heaven”, “We shall be like Him as he is” (1 Jn. 3:2), “Never again shall they know hunger or thirst, nor shall the sun or its heat beat down on them for the Lamb on the throne will shepherd them.  He will lead them to springs of live-giving water, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Rv. 7:15-17).  In heaven, “They will look upon his face, and his name will be on their forehead.  Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 22:4-5).  This is our faith, this is our hope, and this is why there is a crucifix reminding us of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, his covenant with us.   We share invited to share the cross on the journey to get to heaven.  It is our gift for purification.

This reminds me of my early childhood when families looked to children as an inheritance that provided more workers in the fields and everyone turned over their pay to the father to manage the household.  Big farming families or big migrant families the bottom line was more is better.  In the past it was common to lose a child from any number of diseases something we have come a long way in preventing.  Today the world preaches less children is better and more makes for more poverty.  Today children are still being born in large numbers but lost in conception through an ideology of less is better with contraception, abortion, genetic manipulation, in vetro fertilization and end of life decisions on health care with no fear of eternal consequences.  In heaven there is no marriage because there is no more reproduction but love remains.

God keeps his promise.  Let us not be “greatly misled”.  We are his children of the faith.

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Homily

Friday 8th Week of Ordinary Time 2018

Posted on by Deacon Joe

1 Pt. 4:7-13; Mk 11: 11-26

“Each one has received a gift, use it…use it with an intensity of love…love covers a multitude of sins.”  From the gospel we can add, “Pray with an intensity of love and it will be done for you.” 

The fig tree is a symbol of God’s temple.  Jesus our Lord “comes to judge the earth” and protect his temple.  Before the fig tree incident Jesus goes into Bethany to the temple and “looks around at everything” checking it out; after the incident he goes to the Jerusalem temple to check it out and finds it “a den of thieves”.  After Jerusalem he returns to the fig tree and it has withered away, the judgment of the Lord.  

In the gospel we see a hungry Jesus by the fig tree and an angry Jesus at the temple.  We are the temple of the Holy Spirit where is our fruit of the spirit?  Jesus is hungry today awaiting the fruit from the gift we have received.  Let us feed him with the intensity of our love bearing fruit.  Our church of St. Francis Xavier is the temple of the Eucharist and Jesus is hungry for our communion with him.  Let us feed him with the intensity of our prayer in adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, and supplication.  Jesus is in search of his “house of prayer for all peoples”.  Are we a welcoming temple in our hearts and as church community or do we live for ourselves and forget the other? 

Jesus is in search of disciples with a pure heart.  The purity of love is sacrificial love; it is what Dietrich Bonhoffer called “the cost of discipleship”.  Sacrificial love purifies the soul and spirit.  The self is always in search of a good for itself.  Recall how James and John expressed this human desire to be at the right and at the left of Jesus without considering the path of love on the cross.  Recall also the rich young man seeking a good for himself—heaven.  It is a worthy desire but the path Jesus offered was to sacrifice his riches and he went away sad.  Do not be surprised that the path of discipleship is a “trial by fire” says the Lord, a “share in the sufferings of Christ. 

Consider three principles to arrive at purity of heart.  The first principle is seen in the story of the rich young man.  It is a detachment from worldly riches. I saw a short clip in the news this week of an evangelist who had four private planes and was asking his followers for millions to buy another luxury plane.  When is “enough” enough and less is better?  Simple detachment is the first principle of discipleship. 

The second principle is Jesus’ call to “follow me”.  Let go and let God be the center of our search for happiness and he will fulfill the good of self, better than we could ever imagine.  Follow Jesus through the trail by fire and rejoice in the gift of sacrificial love, it purifies the soul and spirit.  Let go of self through surrender to God and fulfill the second principle of discipleship. 

The third principle of discipleship is “transformation”.  Be transformed to share in the sufferings of Christ.  Be transformed in the likeness of Christ by the use of our gifts for his glory.  Be transformed in our hospitality in our words, and in our service so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.  Do not be surprised by the trials of this day.  They are transformative. 

The angry Jesus disrupts the temple status quo, an attack on those in control and so they seek “a way to put him to death”.  The intensity of prayer leads to action in defense of love itself.  God is love who we are called to defend as a militant church on earth.  In Pope Francis, his words, writings and his actions are disrupting the status quo.  The movie on Pope Francis titled “Pope Francis a Man of his Word” is a documentary not of his life but of his faith, hope, and love.  I hope you make or made time to see it.  It is a love story of his relationship with Christ by responding to his call to be a Holy Father to others and to the world.  It is a man in search of purity of love and love covers a multitude of sins.  There are those who support his positions and those who oppose them with the same intensity of belief.  He is not a perfect man, Jesus is.  He is a man seeking perfection in Jesus.  Let us all follow the path, the Jesus way. 

Finally, the documentary ends with his prayer from St. Thomas Moore, “Lord give me a good digestion today and something good to digest.”  Food for the soul is the best meal we receive today, Jesus in the Eucharist.  Jesus came to tear down the walls of the heart in his temple and build up the body of Christ.  He did not come to establish a new world order in the political economy among nations as some seek to create.  We are not a people in search of an earthly king as the Jewish people hoped for.  We are a liberated people of the heart with a king in Jesus Christ.     Amen, Amen, be transformed. 

 

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Homily

Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

1 Jas. 5: 9-12; Mk. 10: 1-12

The readings and responsorial for this day link three themes: perseverance, mercy, and truth in marriage.  “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No”.  It reminds me of another common saying “say what you mean and mean what you say”.  The God of truth isn’t interested in excuses, his word is truth and he who seeks truth is consecrated to Him.  The issue of marriage and divorce is a “hot” debate in the church under Pope Francis.  Pope Francis has encouraged the church in mercy to review applications for annulment with greater efficiency and expediency so couples can receive the sacraments.  In the last few years there is the debate of whether a divorced person remarried can receive communion.  The church recognizes today’s gospel as a sign of “No”.  It is an adulterous relationship.

Why do Pharisees in the gospel event ask the question?  They know the laws of the temple and Jesus lets them answer their own question, it is “Yes”.  They were testing Jesus in defense of all their laws to accuse him if he dared to claim otherwise.  “Because of the hardness of your hearts” God allows Moses to make for special circumstances.  The fact they ask the question indicates the possibility this allowance was abused, a simple way out of marriage for convenience, a sin before God.  Jesus provides the perfect truth.

Recall the story in scripture of the woman who marries seven brothers and each dies on their wedding night.  Whose wife will she be is asked of Jesus.  His response is that in heaven there is no marriage, our joy will be God.  We live in times where divorce is more common that fidelity to a marriage and perseverance to our commitment is not a virtue of value but an inconvenience.  A divorce person however can still receive the sacraments.   The sin is in remarriage without annulment of the first marriage.  Annulment recognizes that the first marriage is invalid opening the door to remarriage in view of the circumstances.

Pope Francis in “Amoris Laetitia” opened the dialogue for remarried couples to receive communion reaffirming the Catholic teaching on the “primacy of conscience”.  The CCC 1790 states “individuals are obligated to follow their conscience” but the church recognizes it must be an informed conscience by church teaching or risk falling into moral relativism.  Recently in a letter to the Argentine bishops in Buenos Aires he declared his letter as “authentic magisterium” which means “official teaching” of the church.  In the letter he provides “guidelines” on handling divorce and remarried Catholics.  In the guidelines he asserts “that in certain circumstances, a person who is divorced and remarried and is living in an active sexual partnership might not be responsible or culpable for the mortal sin of adultery.  The guidelines add that “Amoris Laetitia” opens up the possibility of access to the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist.”  The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium states the faithful are instructed to give a “religious submission of mind and will” to teachings that are authentic magisterium though the teaching may not be an infallible “declaration on faith and morals” (National Review, Tyler Arnold, 12.12.17, 5:00 p.m.)  Thus the debate in need of truth and reconciliation.

Jesus says to the disciples after the resurrection “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven and whose sins you retain are retained” (Jn. 20:23).  The church is given great authority for right judgement of truth but also for mercy.  The Holy Father who stresses dialogue has begun a very important one in an age of high divorce rates.  Why is it so high?  There is no one answer.  One thing I have seen in my years as a counselor is that couples don’t know their spouse.  The reason is not always a lack of attention, especially in the beginning when everything is done “together”.  To know the other, the other must know themselves and share who they are as a person, not just justify their behavior as “this is who I am”.  Confusion and misunderstanding comes from a lack of deeper sense of awareness of who God created us to be and living it out.  If we now ourselves as a child of God we grow in maturity, secure in who we are and able to be open about our inner self.  The reality is we are in continuous growth and development in every stage of life and every stage has its unique challenges of life.

In conclusion I share a story of my parents.  One day while visiting my mother she shared she did not know what else to do with my father.  He had become so difficult to live with and her tolerance had reached a climax.  Knowing some of what she was referring to understanding the circumstances of their situation, and the power to change rested in him not her.  I said simply, “Mother that is your cross to bear.”  She would often remind me of what I had said to her that day and it seemed that it allowed her to place it in perspective of a spiritual sacrifice she could bear finding meaning in her struggle in marriage.  Our first reading reminds us of the need for perseverance, “In good times and in bad” all for the glory of God.

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